suzanna's bloghttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna
enImprisonment without trialhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/imprisonment-without-trial
<p>B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, noted that according to figures received from the Israel Prison Service, the number of Palestinian administrative detainees being held in Israel increased from 219 in January 2011, to 307 in December. In a press release published on its website, B'Tselem also noted that, "At the end of 2011, Israel was holding one minor in administrative detention."</p>
<p>"Twenty-nine per cent of the detainees had been held for six months to one year; another 24 per cent from one to two years. Seventeen Palestinians had been in administrative detention continuously for two to four and a half years, and one man has been held for over five years."</p>
<p>The organization stated that 2011, "marks the first time since 2008 that there was an increase in the number of administrative detainees after the number had fallen from 813 in January 2008, to 204 in December 2010."</p>
<p>"Administrative detention is detention without trial, intended to prevent a person from committing an act that is liable to endanger public safety. ... [Un]like a criminal proceeding, administrative detention is not intended to punish a person for an offense already committed, but to prevent a future danger. The manner in which Israel uses administrative detention is patently illegal. Administrative detainees are not told the reason for their detention or the specific allegations against them. Although detainees are brought before a judge to approve the detention order, most of the material submitted by the prosecution is classified and not shown to the detainee or his attorney. Since the detainees do not know the evidence against them, they are unable to refute it," B'Tselem further stated.</p>
<p>The organization's website also pointed out that the detainees also do not know when they will be released, although each detention order is specified for a year and a half maximum, but detention orders can be renewed indefinitely.</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/imprisonment-without-trial#commentsFri, 17 Feb 2012 10:32:33 +0000suzanna63728 at http://www.thejc.comSettlements in Focushttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/settlements-focus
<p>The actual built-up area of West Bank settlements takes up only a little more than one percent of the West Bank. But the settlements' built-up area is just the tip of the settlements iceberg. The impact of the settlements goes far beyond this one percent.</p>
<p>Consider that almost 10 percent of the West Bank is included in the "municipal area," or the jurisdictional borders of the settlements. These borders are so large that they allow settlements to expand many times over onto land that is completely off-limits to Palestinians.</p>
<p>In addition, consider that almost 34 percent of the West Bank has been placed under the jurisdiction of the settlements' "Regional Councils." That is, more than an additional one-third of the West Bank has been placed under the control of the settlers, off-limits to Palestinians.</p>
<p>More than 40 percent of the West Bank is under the direct control of settlers or settlements and off-limits to Palestinians, regardless of the fact that only a small portion of this land has been built on by settlers.</p>
<p>But the settlements iceberg is even bigger. Israel has taken hundreds of kilometers of the West Bank to build roads that serve the settlements, connecting them to each other and to Israel. They crisscross the entire West Bank, dividing Palestinian cities and towns from each other, and imposing various barriers to Palestinian movement and access. These roads don't only deny Palestinians contiguity, they also, occupy a significant amount of land that is off-limits to Palestinians.</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/settlements-focus#commentsWed, 08 Feb 2012 15:01:52 +0000suzanna63262 at http://www.thejc.comIllegal Settlementshttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/illegal-settlements
<p>Interesting information from Americans for Peace Now, Settlement Watch: </p>
<p>The owners of the Migron land are Palestinian residents of the villages of Deir Dibwan and Burka. The land on which the outpost was built was registered in the land registry in the name of the Palestinian owners from before 1967 (two of the land owners who originally petitioned the High Court to stop Migron have since died, with the case now passed on to their heirs). The Civil Administration's land registration division has in its possession all of the relevant ownership papers. Indeed, in response to Peace Now's petition, the state submitted an aerial photo confirming the claims of the landowner map. (Scanned versions of the relevant ownership documents and the aerial photo are available here, page 6). Peace Now recently released a video introducing the world to these owners.</p>
<p>Israeli officials have repeatedly confirmed, formally and on the record, that the land on which the outpost of Migron is built is legally owned by Palestinians. </p>
<p> "Nature of land rights: Private Palestinian land (agricultural lands of 'Ein Yabrud and Burka). Body which allocated the land: None." (March 2005 Sasson Report, comments regarding Migron - English translation)</p>
<p> "The land on which the buildings of the outpost were built is registered Palestinian land within the boundaries of the villages of Burka and Deir Dibwan." (Civil Administration declaration, December 2006, made by Brig. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukon, Head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank)</p>
<p> "The land upon which the buildings of the outpost were constructed is registered<br />
privately owned Palestinian land, part of the agricultural terrain within the boundaries of Burka and Dir Debwan...." ( December 2006, statement of the State of Israel to the High Court of Justice in response to Peace Now petition against Migron)</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/illegal-settlements#commentsWed, 08 Feb 2012 13:13:53 +0000suzanna63259 at http://www.thejc.comBoycott the Guardian!!http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/boycott-guardian
<p>Letter in the Guardian:</p>
<p>We applaud Harriet Sherman for bringing the violation of Palestinian children's rights to the attention of your readers (Alone and bewildered, the boy in Cell 36, 23 January). We recently visited Jerusalem and the West Bank as members of the British Association of Social Workers, and heard many similar accounts. We also witnessed the horrific sight of Palestinian children being led into a military courtroom in handcuffs and leg-irons, and saw a diminutive 14-year-old being sentenced to three and a half months in prison, together with a large fine, for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli prison service's justification for the use of such restraints strikes us as incredible. In a context of the utmost security, it was impossible to see the necessity of such inhuman shackling of a child. Seeing this boy's bewilderment and tearful face as he looked across to his mother is something that we will not forget in a long time.</p>
<p>What we witnessed were clear breaches of the human rights of children under international law. We believe, given our professional code of ethics, that we have a duty as social workers to do whatever is in our power to highlight this issue and to promote the rights of those children who are affected. We call upon other social workers to do the same, including within Israel.</p>
<p>Guy Shennan, David Harrop, Sarah Sturge, Rupert Franklin-Lester</p>
<p>Members of the British Association of Social Workers</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/boycott-guardian#commentsThu, 26 Jan 2012 14:36:27 +0000suzanna62650 at http://www.thejc.comEthnic Cleansing in the West Bankhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/ethnic-cleansing-west-bank
<p>Since 1967, Israel -- using various means -- has taken control of around 50 percent of the West Bank. Almost all of that land has been turned over to the settlers. The 1 percent of the West Bank on which the built-up areas of settlements are located is just the beginning. Because almost 10 percent of the West Bank is included in the "municipal area" of settlements. That is, the jurisdictional borders of settlements, as drawn by Israel, are so large as to allow settlements to expand many times over onto land that is in the meantime totally off-limits to Palestinians. In addition, almost 34 percent of the West Bank has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Settlement "Regional Councils." That is more than an additional one-third of the West Bank under the control of the settler and totally off-limits to Palestinians.</p>
<p>In this way, more than 40 percent of the West Bank is under the direct control of settlers/settlements and off-limits to Palestinians, irrespective of the fact that only a small portion of this land has been built on by settlers.</p>
<p>Moreover, more than 32 percent of the built-up area of settlements (and outposts) is on privately owned Palestinian land. This construction is on land that Israel has not been able to "legally" take control of since 1967. Under Israeli law, settler use of this land constitutes out-and-out theft -- theft that the Netanyahu government is currently working to legalize post-facto.</p>
<p>In addition, Israel has taken hundreds of kilometers of the West Bank to build roads that serve the settlements, connecting them to each other and to Israel. The negative impact of these roads is arguably more profound in terms of impeding normal life for the Palestinians than the settlements or the land seizures themselves. They crisscross the entire West Bank, dividing Palestinian cities and town from each other, and imposing various barriers to Palestinian movement and access, all for the benefit of the settlements.</p>
<p>The meaninglessness of focusing on the built-up area of settlements is self-evident in another simple reality: the "separation barrier" de facto annexes 9.5 percent of the West Bank to Israel, following a route that was manifestly guided not by security needs but to accommodate settlements and settlement expansion plans.This 9.5 percent is many times the built-up area of settlements -- underscoring the fact that Israeli territorial ambitions across the 1967 lines are not limited to the built-up areas of settlements. And even this 9.5 percent clearly doesn't begin to represent the extent of those ambitions, given that the barrier leaves the majority of settlements (built-up areas included) on the "wrong" side.</p>
<p>In addition, there is the issue of East Jerusalem. Since 1967, Israel has expropriated fully 35 percent of the land in East Jerusalem as "state land" and used it almost entirely for settlements. Such settlements (and new settlement construction going on today) has the explicit goal of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem -- which, in effect, means preventing the two-state solution.</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/ethnic-cleansing-west-bank#commentsFri, 20 Jan 2012 13:15:32 +0000suzanna62381 at http://www.thejc.comPalestinians Live in Fear For Their Liveshttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/palestinians-live-fear-for-their-lives
<p>
A 20 per cent rise in settlement construction across the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the past year has taken land critical to the creation of a Palestinian state and placed a two-state solution further away than ever, a report has found.</p>
<p>Building has started on at least 1850 housing units, while there were 3500 units already under construction, the Israeli settlement watch group Peace Now said.</p>
<p>Eleven new settlements - home to 2300 settlers and 680 structures - were recognised by Israel last year when it legalised those outposts (outposts are created when a settlement expands to a new area of land).<br />
Advertisement: Story continues below</p>
<p>A further 1577 units were flagged as part of the Ministry of Housing's official list of pending tenders, the report found.</p>
<p>''The Netanyahu government is promoting several plans precisely in disputed areas which could prevent the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel,'' Peace Now found. The Israeli government said it had exercised ''great restraint'' regarding the settlements and described Peace Now's figures as exaggerated.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a leaked report from the European Union on Area C in the West Bank, where 62 per cent of the territory is under Israeli security and civil control, found ''the window for a two-state solution is rapidly closing''.</p>
<p>''The Palestinian presence in Area C has been continuously undermined through different administrative measures, planning regulations and other means adopted by Israel as occupying power.</p>
<p>''If the current trends are not stopped or reversed, the establishment of a viable Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries seems more remote than ever,'' the yet-to-be-released report says.</p>
<p>The rapid growth in settlements - considered illegal under international law - means settlers (310,000) now significantly outnumber Palestinian residents (150,000) in Area C.</p>
<p>Along with the settlement expansion, the EU report found, Israel's prohibitive planning regime - which prevents Palestinians building new houses or expanding their present ones, restricts access to water, electricity, sewage and agricultural land as well as the prevention of free movement throughout the territory via checkpoints and the military's separation wall - was eroding the Palestinians' ability to continue living in those areas.</p>
<p>Israel would not comment on the EU report. A spokesman from the foreign ministry said ''the report has not been presented to us … we didn't know it was being written and to my understanding we were never consulted in its preparation''.</p>
<p>A third round of ''exploratory'' talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials began in Jordan late on Saturday, although a Palestinian spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi, said she was not expecting any breakthrough before the January 26 deadline set by the Middle East Quartet in October.</p>
<p>Israel's refusal to halt settlement construction was a serious barrier to progress, she said.</p>
<p>The West Bank village of Asira, just south of Nablus, knows too well the challenges of living under Israel's military occupation in the shadow of a settlement. Villagers said they were consistently attacked by residents of the neighbouring settlement of Yizhar, as often as once a week. But the house that bears the brunt of those attacks is the Maklouf residence. It is the last home in the village and closest to the settlement.</p>
<p>The family has an extraordinary collection of home movies, shot by their mother on a hand-held video recorder, that depict life on the front line of settler violence.</p>
<p>In video after video, seen by the Herald, armed settlers, their faces covered by scarves, charge down the hill towards the Maklouf home, firing guns, throwing stones and wielding iron bars, and screaming obscenities against the prophet Muhammad, the family and the village. One settler rampage that began at 12.15am on December 12 lasted at least half an hour, the family said.</p>
<p>The family - mother Khadra, father Ibrahim and their six children - said they thought they would die. Desperate calls to the Israeli Defence Forces, stationed just kilometres away, went unanswered as the group of at least 100 settlers surrounded them, throwing rocks and bricks at their house and banged on their walls with iron bars.</p>
<p>''You cannot imagine the fear,'' Khadra Maklouf said. ''The girls were screaming… I was terrified somebody would get shot and killed.''</p>
<p>Ibrahim, her husband, said: ''Now the younger boys are too frightened to use the toilet, and the girls will not even go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. We are worried whenever they are playing outside that the settlers might harm them.''</p>
<p>Gerard Horton, from Defence for Children International, said: ''This is the human cost of the settlements. These are the friction points, where children get arrested, land is lost, water is restricted and every aspect of life is affected.''</p>
<p>Sydney Morning Herald</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/palestinians-live-in-fear-for-their-lives-as-twostate-solution-hopes-fade-20120115-1q1gl.html#ixzz1k04ZeMWz" title="http://www.smh.com.au/world/palestinians-live-in-fear-for-their-lives-as-twostate-solution-hopes-fade-20120115-1q1gl.html#ixzz1k04ZeMWz">http://www.smh.com.au/world/palestinians-live-in-fear-for-their-lives-as...</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/palestinians-live-fear-for-their-lives#commentsFri, 20 Jan 2012 12:58:50 +0000suzanna62378 at http://www.thejc.comRecognition of yet more ethnic cleansing of Palestinianshttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/recognition-yet-more-ethnic-cleansing-palestinians
<p>The Palestinian presence in the largest part of the occupied West Bank – has been, "continuously undermined" by Israel in ways that are "closing the window" on a two-state solution, according to an internal EU report seen by The Independent.</p>
<p>The report, approved by top Brussels officials, argues that EU support, including for a wide range of building projects, is now needed to protect the rights of "ever more isolated" Palestinians in "Area C", a sector that includes all 124 Jewish settlements – illegal in international law – and which is under direct Israeli control. It comprises 62 per cent of the West Bank, including the "most fertile and resource rich land".<br />
With the number of Jewish settlers now at more than double the shrinking Palestinian population in the largely rural area, the report warns bluntly that, "if current trends are not stopped and reversed, the establishment of a viable Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders seem more remote than ever".<br />
The 16-page document is the EU's starkest critique yet of how a combination of house and farm building demolitions; a prohibitive planning regime; relentless settlement expansion; the military's separation barrier; obstacles to free movement; and denial of access to vital natural resources, including land and water, is eroding Palestinian tenure of the large tract of the West Bank on which hopes of a contiguous Palestinian state depend.<br />
International brokers are trying to persuade both sides to reach a peaceful settlement through talks, which had stalled over the building of Israeli settlements and the Palestinians' recent declaration of statehood at the UN.<br />
The report points out how dramatically the settler population – now at 310,000 – of Area C has increased at the expense of Palestinian numbers – estimated at around 150,000. In 1967, there were between 200,000 and 320,000 Palestinians in just the agriculture-rich Jordan Valley part of the zone.<br />
Area C is one of three zones allocated by the 1993 Oslo agreement. Area A includes major Palestinian cities, and is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Area B is under shared Israeli-Palestinian control.<br />
Although Area C is the least populous, the report says "the window for a two-state solution is rapidly closing with the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and access restrictions for Palestinians in Area C [which] compromises crucial natural resources and land for the future demographic and economic growth of a viable Palestinian state".<br />
It says the EU needs "at a political" level to persuade Israel to redesignate Area C, but in the meantime it should "support Palestinian presence in, and development of the area". The report says the destruction of homes, public buildings and workplaces result in "forced transfer of the native population" and that construction is effectively prohibited in 70 per cent of the land – and then in zones largely allocated to settlements of the Israeli military.<br />
In practice, it says Palestinian construction is permitted in just 1 per cent of Area C, "most of which is already built up". The EU report's short- and medium-term recommendations include calling on Israel to halt demolitions of houses and structures built without permits – of which there have been 4,800 since 2000. But there is also a call for the EU to support a building programme that includes schools, clinics, water and other infrastructure projects.<br />
The EU should also be more vocal in raising objections to "involuntary population movements, displacements, evictions and internal migration".<br />
The report says Area C – along with East Jerusalem – has not benefited from the gradual reversal of the West Bank economic collapse since the beginning of the intifada in 2000 which saw growth of 9 per cent in 2010. It also claims Palestinian economic activity is mainly "low intensity" agriculture in contrast to specialised, export-directed farming by Jewish settlers in the Jordan Valley "which uses most of the water resources in the area", and that it is of "great concern" that cisterns and rainwater structures have been destroyed by the Israeli authorities since January 2010 </p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/recognition-yet-more-ethnic-cleansing-palestinians#commentsThu, 12 Jan 2012 16:09:10 +0000suzanna61893 at http://www.thejc.comThe Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement Policieshttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-humanitarian-impact-israeli-settlement-policies
<p><a href="http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settlements_FactSheet_January_2012_english.pdf" title="http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settlements_FactSheet_January_2012_english.pdf">http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settlements_FactSheet_January_...</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-humanitarian-impact-israeli-settlement-policies#commentsTue, 10 Jan 2012 14:59:27 +0000suzanna61709 at http://www.thejc.comVeolia Takes Severe Blow As It Fails To Win 485 Million Pound Contract In West London: London 23rd Dec 11http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/veolia-takes-severe-blow-as-it-fails-to-win-485-million-pound-contract-in-west-london-
<p>Human rights campaigners are celebrating after the West London Waste Authority ('WLWA') excluded French multinational Veolia from a £485 million contract covering 1.4 million inhabitants of the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames, for treatment of residual domestic waste.<br />
The reasons behind the decision by the WLWA to exclude Veolia are commercially confidential but the impact of human rights campaigners should not be under-estimated.<br />
Over the last six months campaigners lobbied Councillors and Council officials to exclude Veolia from the contract and submitted a letter to the WLWA documenting Veolia's direct complicity in grave breaches of international and humanitarian law in Jerusalem and the West Bank.<br />
Campaigners pointed out that:<br />
Veolia helped build and is involved in operating a tram-line which links Jerusalem with illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.<br />
Veolia takes waste from Israel and illegal Israeli Settlements and dumps this on Palestinian land at the Tovlan landfill.<br />
The letter also gave evidence of Veolia's racist recruitment policies in Israel, as well as the company's operation of buses on Highway 443 which Palestinians are prohibited from using.<br />
Veolia's failure to win the WLWA contract is a heavy blow for the company because it owns a domestic waste depot in the area covered by the WLWA and so should have been ideally placed to meet some of the necessary criteria for the WLWA tender.<br />
Worse still for Veolia, this blow comes only six months after it failed to win Ealing Council's £300m new 'Clean and Green' contract even though Veolia already did much of the work under the old contract. When bidding for that contract Veolia had faced determined opposition from Palestinian rights campaigners over its track record in Jerusalem and the West Bank.<br />
Campaigners across the world are focussed on Veolia because it is a key target of the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions ('BDS') campaign for Palestinian rights and which is led by Palestinian civil society organisations.</p>
<p>'Complicity in infringing human rights and international law has become an expensive business for Veolia. Other companies please note: There is a strong, determined and popular international campaign for justice for Palestinians; if you aid Israel's oppression of Palestinians your business will suffer just like Veolia's'</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/veolia-takes-severe-blow-as-it-fails-to-win-485-million-pound-contract-in-west-london-#commentsFri, 23 Dec 2011 15:19:01 +0000suzanna60936 at http://www.thejc.comRecord number of Palestinians displaced by demolitions http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/record-number-palestinians-displaced-demolitions
<p>(December 13, 2011) - Israeli authorities have stepped up unlawful demolitions in the West Bank including East Jerusalem over the past year, displacing a record number of Palestinian families from their homes, an international coalition of 20 leading aid agencies and human rights groups said today. The statement comes as the Middle East Quartet meets in Jerusalem in its latest effort to revive peace talks.</p>
<p>The sharp rise in demolitions in 2011 has been accompanied by accelerated expansion of Israeli settlements and an escalation of violence perpetrated by settlers, the groups said.</p>
<p>The humanitarian and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam International, are calling for the Quartet to hold all parties to the conflict to their international law obligations. The Quartet must, therefore, press the Israeli government to immediately reverse its settlement policies and freeze all demolitions that violate international law.</p>
<p>Amnesty International; Avaaz; Broederlijk Delen; CCFD-Terre Solidaire; Church of Sweden; CNCD - 11.11.11; Christian Aid; DanChurchAid; Diakonia; Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network; FIDH; FinnChurchAid; GVC Italia; Human Rights Watch; Medical Aid for Palestinians; medico international; Norwegian People's Aid; Oxfam International; Polish Humanitarian Action; Trócaire</p>
<p>The evidence of rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground includes:</p>
<p>· Doubling the number of people displaced by demolitions: Since the beginning of the year more than 500 Palestinian homes, wells, rainwater harvesting cisterns, and other essential structures have been destroyed in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, displacing more than 1,000 Palestinians, UN figures show. This is more than double the number of people displaced over the same period in 2010, and the highest figure since at least 2005.[1] More than half of those displaced have been children for whom the loss of their home is particularly devastating.</p>
<p>· Accelerating settlement expansion: Plans for around 4,000 new settler housing units have been approved in East Jerusalem over the past 12 months - the highest number since at least 2006, according to Peace Now.[2] In November, moreover, Israel announced plans to speed up construction of 2,000 new units in the West Bank including East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>· Sharp increase in settler violence: violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians have escalated by over 50% in 2011 compared to 2010, and by over 160% compared to 2009, the UN reports. 2011 has seen by far the most settler violence since at least 2005. Settlers have also destroyed or damaged nearly 10,000 Palestinian olive and other trees during this year, undermining the livelihoods of hundreds of families.[3] The perpetrators act with virtual impunity, with over 90% of complaints of settler violence closed by the Israeli police without indictment in 2005-2010.[4]</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/record-number-palestinians-displaced-demolitions#commentsFri, 23 Dec 2011 10:39:23 +0000suzanna60917 at http://www.thejc.comAmericans for Peace Nowhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/americans-peace-now
<p>Historically, there is ample documentation showing that a separate local Palestinian identity among Arabs living in Palestine started formulating in the 16th and 17th century, and that a national Palestinian consciousness started crystalizing early in the 20th century, as anti-colonial movements took root around the world. This national consciousness transformed into a national movement and later into a national liberation movement, in large part as a result of the friction between the Palestinians and Zionism, the Jewish national self-determination movement.</p>
<p>Modern Arab states in the eastern Mediterranean (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan) were created as their populations struggled to free themselves from post-Ottoman colonial powers (Britain and France) in the first half of the 20th century. Each state had its own unique circumstances. So did the area that today is Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The initiative to divide this area into two states, a Jewish state and an Arab Palestinian state, which was anchored in the United Nations' 1947 Partition Plan, was the local manifestation of this broader process in the Middle East, the process of ending colonial rule.</p>
<p>True, a Palestinian state did not come into being during this period, but such a state was endorsed by the international community at the same moment that the international community endorsed the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1947.</p>
<p>All of that being said, while the development of Palestinian nationalism is a fascinating topic for historians and sociologists - as is the development of Zionism and a distinct Israeli identity - it has no relevance to the current situation in the Middle East. Today, Israelis and Palestinians are undeniably two peoples with two very strong national identities. And today these two peoples are struggling to find a formula for a historic compromise that will grant both peoples self-determination with international recognition. Today virtually all Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who in the past epitomized the rejection of Palestinian nationalism and Palestinian statehood, have endorsed the two-state solution, at least in principle, as the inevitable and necessary historical compromise.</p>
<p>And it's not only the leaders. Most Israelis today understand that Israel's future as a Jewish state that is truly democratic depends on the creation of a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Delegitimizing efforts to achieve such a state - or delegitimizing the Palestinians as a people that has a claim to such a state - directly threatens Israel's future.</p>
<p>Golda Meir's proclamation that "there is no such thing as Palestinians" was wrong and counterproductive when she made it in 1969. Repeating it today is wrong many times over, and does a terrible disservice to efforts to secure Israel's future through peace. </p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/americans-peace-now#commentsFri, 16 Dec 2011 10:25:43 +0000suzanna60462 at http://www.thejc.comShot childrenhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/shot-children
<p><a href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/ua_4_10_children_of_the_gravel_update_14_dec__2011_2.pdf" title="http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/ua_4_10_children_of_the_gravel_update_14_dec__2011_2.pdf">http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/ua_4_10_children_of_the...</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/shot-children#commentsFri, 16 Dec 2011 10:03:00 +0000suzanna60460 at http://www.thejc.comNon democratic Bills in the past yearhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/non-democratic-bills-past-year
<p>
*16 November 2011 - Bill to curtail left-wing groups' ability to represent victims in the High Court. "Public petitioners" who are not a direct victim will not be permitted to file petitions for individual victims. </p>
<p>* 9 November 2011 - Two bills to limit foreign funding to Israeli NGOs. The first would limit the funds Israeli organizations could receive from foreign government entities to NIS 20,000, while the second would place a 45% tax on these funds. </p>
<p>* 7 November 2011 - Bill would drastically raise amount of punitive compensation for libel. Those found guilty would pay NIS 300,000--a six-fold increase from the amount specified in the Defamation Prohibition Law--without the need of proof for damages. </p>
<p>* 7 November 2011- Bill to Protect Israel's Values would prohibit organizations that "harm the State of Israel as a Jewish state" from operating in Israel.</p>
<p>* 28 August 2011- Bill being prepared that would deny entry into Israel of anyone involved in boycotts against Israel or lawsuits against IDF or government officials. </p>
<p>* 7 July 2011 - Boycott Law passes, enabling Israelis to sue individuals and organizations that advocate a boycott against Israel or settlement products without any need of tangible evidence of damages. </p>
<p>* 24 March 2011 - J Street summoned to Knesset to determine whether the American non-profit was "sufficiently pro-Israel."</p>
<p>* 22 March 2011 - The Nakba Law (or "Basic Principles Law") makes public schools that treat Israeli Independence Day as a day of mourning liable for fines of up to ten times the "cost." Arab schools will be a prime target for expressing the traditional Palestinian narrative by commemorating Palestinian Nakba ("Catastrophe") day.</p>
<p>* 22 March 2011 - Acceptance to Communities Bill enables communities of up to 400 family units to bar people from becoming residents for not "fitting with the life of the community" or "fitting with the social fabric." This vague criteria allows for excluding Arab citizens. </p>
<p>* 7 March 2011- Bill to remove citizenship of those convicted of terrorism or espionage</p>
<p>* 7 February 2011 - Bill to allow the court to dissolve any company that refuses to provide or buy services in certain regions of Israel. Therefore, if a company chooses not to provide services in settlements, it will be liable to this potential law. </p>
<p>* 30 January 2011- Bill that would make it illegal to cover one's face (e.g. niqab) in public under penalty of imprisonment. </p>
<p>* 5 January 2011 - Knesset approves commission to investigate sources of funding for left-wing NGOs. </p>
<p>* 23 November 2010 - Law that requires a two-thirds majority vote for giving up any territory in the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem, thereby removing from the Prime Minister's power the right to make the bold decisions it takes to arrive at a peace deal. </p>
<p>* October 10, 2010 - Pledge of Allegiance (or "Loyalty Oath") bill passes, requiring any non-Jewish applicant for Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state. </p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/non-democratic-bills-past-year#commentsFri, 18 Nov 2011 10:29:19 +0000suzanna58506 at http://www.thejc.com BDS in Sweden.http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/bds-sweden
<p>More than 200 students, professors and lecturers across Sweden have signed on to a growing academic boycott call demanding that Swedish universities not participate in any academic cooperation with Israeli educational institutions. They also called on the Swedish government to “act [towards] the cessation of the [European Union’s] research support to Israel.”<br />
The public boycott call, initiated by the Action group for the Boycott of Israel at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, follows similar boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns across Europe and the world — including the recent move by London student unions to support the boycott, as well as the nation-wide academic boycott move in South Africa after the University of Johannesburg’s severing of ties with Ben Gurion University in March. The action group’s call adds:</p>
<p> The boycott is not aimed at individuals but against institutions. So far no Israeli academic institution has dissociated itself from Israel’s apartheid policy or the discrimination of Palestinians in Israel. Therefore all collaboration with Israeli academic institutions should be stopped, the signatories say. [The action group] demands that KTH shall cancel its ongoing agreement with Technion, the leading Israeli technical university. Technion has close collaboration with the Israeli military forces. As an example it may be mentioned that Technion is developing new types of drones for the destruction of Palestinian houses … Researchers of Technion act as advisors to Israel’s military and the university collaborates closely with Israel’s biggest weapons producer Elbit. </p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/bds-sweden#commentsWed, 05 Oct 2011 11:12:46 +0000suzanna55810 at http://www.thejc.comThe Terrorizing of Childrenhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-terrorizing-children
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-israel-takes-its-revenge-on-boys-who-throw-stones-2344037.html" title="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-israel-takes-its-revenge-on-boys-who-throw-stones-2344037.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-israel-takes-its...</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-terrorizing-children#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 10:44:03 +0000suzanna53737 at http://www.thejc.comDemocracy in actionhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/democracy-action
<p>Bushra Altaweel, a 17 year-old teenager was arrested on July 6th 2011, during a dawn raid at her home in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah in West Bank.</p>
<p>No explanation was given for her arrest, and more than a month later she has not been charged without any crime.</p>
<p>It is believed that she was targeted for arrest by Israeli occupation forces because her father, Mr Jamal Altaweel is an elected mayor for Al-Bireh city in West Bank.</p>
<p>Family members of elected officials have been venerable to arrest due to the Israeli occupation policy of targeting families of elected Palestinian politicians as a means of applying political pressure.</p>
<p>Last year, the same family was targeted – Bushra’s mother, Mrs Muthanna Altaweel, was held in administrative detention for a full year.</p>
<p>No charge has been brought against Bushra after 30 days in detention, and the Israeli courts have delayed in convening a session where her case was due to be heard, delaying her release.</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/democracy-action#commentsWed, 10 Aug 2011 15:08:09 +0000suzanna53001 at http://www.thejc.comSettlements & landhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/settlements-land
<p>From 1967 to mid-2010, Israel established 121 settlements in the West Bank that were recognized by the Interior Ministry as “communities.” In addition, some 100 outposts (settlements built without official authorization but with support and assistance of government ministries). Furthermore, twelve neighborhoods that were established on land annexed by Israel in 1967 and made part of Jerusalem are deemed settlements under international law. The government has also funded and assisted in the establishment of a few settler enclaves in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, including in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrach, Mount of Olives, Ras al-‘Amud, Abu Dis, and Jabal al-Mukabber. </p>
<p>Israel created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation and discrimination, with two separate systems of law in the same territory. One system, for the settlers, de facto annexes the settlements to Israel and grants settlers the rights of citizens of a democratic state. The other is a system of military law that systematically deprives Palestinian of their rights and denies them the ability to have any real effect on shaping the policy regarding the land space in which they live and with respect to their rights. These separate systems reinforce a regime in which rights depend on the national identity of the individual.</p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/settlements-land#commentsWed, 10 Aug 2011 12:49:13 +0000suzanna52989 at http://www.thejc.comhttp://forward.com/articles/140140/http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/httpforwardcomarticles140140
<p><a href="http://forward.com/articles/140140/" title="http://forward.com/articles/140140/">http://forward.com/articles/140140/</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/httpforwardcomarticles140140#commentsThu, 28 Jul 2011 12:29:00 +0000suzanna52376 at http://www.thejc.comThe face of occupationhttp://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-face-occupation
<p><a href="http://972mag.com/watch-palestinian-youth-abducted-in-silwan/" title="http://972mag.com/watch-palestinian-youth-abducted-in-silwan/">http://972mag.com/watch-palestinian-youth-abducted-in-silwan/</a></p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/the-face-occupation#commentsWed, 27 Jul 2011 08:16:38 +0000suzanna52278 at http://www.thejc.com"What's happening in the field is terrorism,"http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/whats-happening-field-terrorism
<p>A senior Israeli army commander has warned that unchecked "Jewish terror" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank threatens to plunge the territory into another conflict.</p>
<p>In unusually outspoken comments, Major General Avi Mizrahi took aim at extremist Israeli settlers, and said the yeshiva, or religious seminary, in Yitzhar, one of the most radical Jewish strongholds in the West Bank, should be closed, calling it a source of terror against Palestinians.</p>
<p>The general's comments are likely to put him at odds with Israel's pro-settler government, which has resisted US-led efforts to curb settlement expansion in a bid to revive stalled peace talks. The foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, himself lives in a West Bank settlement. All settlements are regarded as illegal under international law.</p>
<p>The army has anxiously watched an upsurge in violence by hardline settlers, who in recent months have set fire to a West Bank mosque, burned Palestinian olive groves, and vandalised Palestinian property. Settlers have killed three Palestinians this year.</p>
<p>"What's happening in the field is terrorism," General Mizrahi told Channel 2's Meet the Press, and it "needs to be dealt with." The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), he said, fears "terrorism against Palestinians is likely to ignite the territories."</p>
<p>The general's criticism points to frustration within the army's high command at their ability to check violent settlers.</p>
<p>Palestinians and Israeli NGOs frequently accuse the army of siding with settlers in conflagrations with Palestinians, prompting the army to respond that it is obliged to protect its citizens and does not set policy.</p>
<p>Human rights groups suggest that the more radical settlers, many of whom oppose a two-state solution on the premise that the whole of Israel is bequeathed to them by God, are agitating against Palestinian moves to seek statehood recognition at the United Nations in September.</p>
<p>Some fear that the surge in violent attacks against Palestinians could compound rising frustrations with the stalled peace process and trigger more violent riots.</p>
<p>"The army is very afraid that [action by settlers] at a critical moment could set off a Third Intifada," said Adam Keller, spokesman for Israeli human rights body Gush Shalom, referring to a mass Palestinian uprising.</p>
<p>"The fact that the army is nervous is making the settlers more aggressive," he said</p>
<p>The Israeli commander General Mizrahi blamed the courts for failing to rein in the most radical of the settlers – a small proportion of the roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers who are living beyond the Green Line in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. </p>http://www.thejc.com/blogs/suzanna/whats-happening-field-terrorism#commentsTue, 19 Jul 2011 14:22:35 +0000suzanna51886 at http://www.thejc.com